American filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter George Lucas was born in Modesto, California on May 14, 1944. He is most famous for the creation of the Star Wars saga and the Indiana Jones adventure series. Lucas has become one of the most successful filmmakers within the American film industry.

George Lucas attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and was a member of the “Dirty Dozen” clique of film school students that would go on to make it big in Hollywood. In 1973, Lucas found success with the release of his low-budget film, American Graffiti, which cost under $800,000 to make but garnered over $50 million at the box office.

Star Wars came next in 1977, and with the release of The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and The Return of the Jedi in 1983, the saga began to attract quite the cult following. Indiana Jones was also the brainchild of George Lucas, but he enlisted Steven Spielberg to direct the films while he wrote the screenplays. After Indiana Jones, Lucas returned his attention back to Star Wars and created three more “episodes” which were hugely popular. Both Hollywood franchises achieved momentous success, and in 2012, Lucas announced he would be retiring from major blockbuster films to focus on smaller, independent features.